Advertising Sales Agents salary

SOC 41-3011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,820

per year, nationally

Middle half

$47,020–$99,990

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

91,700

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-6.4%

9,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$35,240$146,010

10th: $35,240
25th: $47,020
Median: $64,820
75th: $99,990
90th: $146,010

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where advertising sales agents earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$101,320	107.0	3,510	1.67×
2	New York	$98,360	107.9	13,570	2.37×
3	Massachusetts	$80,500	105.8	1,480	0.69×
4	California	$80,360	110.7	9,620	0.90×
5	District of Columbia	$75,030	109.9	320	0.77×
6	Utah	$74,260	98.9	1,110	1.08×
7	Colorado	$73,420	103.1	1,110	0.65×
8	New Jersey	$69,620	108.8	2,110	0.84×
9	South Carolina	$68,200	93.7	1,770	1.30×
10	Illinois	$66,290	100.0	3,790	1.05×
11	Michigan	$64,800	96.2	2,040	0.78×
12	Wisconsin	$63,270	94.1	1,290	0.75×
13	Nebraska	$62,890	90.1	1,190	1.97×
14	Oregon	$62,810	103.4	960	0.83×
15	Minnesota	$62,660	98.6	1,750	1.00×
16	Arizona	$62,050	100.7	1,160	0.61×
17	Connecticut	$61,820	103.6	740	0.74×
18	Missouri	$61,440	90.8	1,640	0.95×
19	Hawaii	$61,290	110.0	310	0.85×
20	Texas	$60,280	97.1	6,230	0.75×
21	South Dakota	$60,190	88.6	390	1.46×
22	Maryland	$59,830	105.0	880	0.54×
23	Vermont	$58,750	98.0	160	0.91×
24	Iowa	$58,480	87.8	900	0.98×
25	Florida	$58,420	103.4	6,420	1.10×
26	Pennsylvania	$58,350	97.6	4,260	1.19×
27	Georgia	$58,140	96.3	3,150	1.09×
28	Oklahoma	$57,670	87.8	700	0.69×
29	Indiana	$57,030	93.3	1,410	0.74×
30	New Hampshire	$54,870	104.2	290	0.71×
31	Idaho	$53,460	95.5	220	0.44×
32	Delaware	$52,480	99.8	140	0.48×
33	Kentucky	$51,580	90.2	620	0.53×
34	Alabama	$50,870	88.8	910	0.73×
35	Ohio	$50,410	92.8	3,220	0.98×
36	North Dakota	$50,110	89.0	260	1.01×
37	Arkansas	$49,120	86.9	900	1.18×
38	Louisiana	$48,810	88.2	860	0.75×
39	Maine	$48,780	97.0	400	1.06×
40	Kansas	$48,660	90.1	920	1.08×
41	Rhode Island	$48,040	102.3	340	1.14×
42	Wyoming	$47,290	92.7	150	0.89×
43	Mississippi	$46,810	87.0	490	0.71×
44	Montana	$46,040	94.6	240	0.78×
45	New Mexico	$45,620	92.2	300	0.59×
46	West Virginia	$44,700	89.5	290	0.71×
47	Alaska	$43,840	102.4	230	1.20×
48	Tennessee	$40,910	91.9	1,820	0.94×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where advertising sales agents wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for advertising sales agents

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$113,250	110.4	380	0.57×
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$105,320	111.1	2,770	2.25×
3	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$99,010	112.6	13,210	2.36×
4	Richmond, VA	$95,680	97.9	330	0.86×
5	Tulsa, OK	$89,820	89.2	260	0.97×
6	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$84,540	105.8	620	0.65×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$84,390	115.6	1,340	0.96×
8	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$83,470	108.3	1,100	0.69×
9	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$81,750	100.9	710	1.46×
10	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$80,410	101.0	520	2.23×
11	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$80,410	100.3	190	1.27×
12	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$80,360	113.6	5,230	1.42×
13	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$78,990	110.5	70	0.37×
14	New Haven, CT	$76,830	104.6	70	0.43×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$76,570	105.4	730	1.02×
16	Barnstable Town, MA	$76,350	98.4	50	0.90×
17	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$75,840	108.6	40	0.55×
18	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$75,700	105.6	40	0.73×
19	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$75,590	103.6	2,830	1.06×
20	Champaign-Urbana, IL	$75,410	92.7	60	1.00×
21	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$75,140	103.2	110	0.79×
22	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$75,060	104.8	1,110	0.97×
23	Salisbury, MD	$74,230	95.6	40	1.26×
24	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$73,500	106.9	190	0.79×
25	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$73,280	103.7	40	0.56×
26	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$72,740	106.7	190	0.29×
27	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$71,620	108.9	1,190	0.65×
28	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$70,920	98.2	170	0.94×
29	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$70,110	99.6	220	0.81×
30	St. George, UT	$69,480	97.3	40	0.75×
31	Ogden, UT	$68,950	100.3	80	0.48×
32	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$68,790	111.9	480	0.53×
33	Rochester, NY	$68,310	97.0	260	0.88×
34	Boulder, CO	$68,140	105.2	100	0.91×
35	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$67,950	100.3	970	0.86×
36	Worcester, MA	$67,670	102.5	50	0.25×
37	Rockford, IL	$67,030	92.2	110	1.32×
38	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$66,790	96.9	430	0.89×
39	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$66,360	98.9	50	0.45×
40	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$66,300	95.8	250	0.79×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where advertising sales agents wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.